For millennia, the awe and wonder of the night sky has captivated and inspired humans to explore some of the most fundamental mysteries of the Cosmos through different perspectives and disciplines. Astronomy as a field of inquiry exemplifies a synergy of disciplines, a synergy that is more often tacit. Over the years, education and educational…

Nowadays, physics learning in the classroom should no longer only focus on achieving academics. It must prepare students to face challenges in the future. One of the abilities that are important for learners is problem solving, and the problem-solving ability that is becoming increasingly important in today's digital era is computational thinking…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the nature of small group discussion tasks and learners' talk during Physical Science lessons. The study was conducted during Physical Science lessons with three self-selected groups of Grade 11 learners from one school. A total of three lessons were followed. During the…

Based on quantitative survey data collected from an inquiry-based general chemistry laboratory course, the current study used marginal models to evaluate changes in students' teamwork and problem-solving skills, attitudes to teamwork, and willingness to explore new issues before and after the course. The results suggest that introductory-level…

Intuitive knowledge seems to influence human decision-making outside of consciousness and differs from deliberate cognitive and metacognitive processes. Intuitive knowledge can play an essential role in problem solving and may offer the initiation of subsequent learning processes. Scientific discovery learning with computer simulations leads to…

Whereas some educational designers believe that students should learn new concepts through explorative problem solving within dedicated environments that constrain key parameters of their search and then support their progressive appropriation of empowering disciplinary forms, others are critical of the ultimate efficacy of this discovery-based…

Error-based simulation (EBS) has been developed to generate phenomena by using students' erroneous ideas and also offers promise for promoting students' awareness of errors. In this paper, we report the evaluation of EBS used in learning "normal reaction" in a junior high school. An EBS class, where students learned the concept…

Reviews the literature concerning problem solving in science education. Authors contend that the adoption of a forward-looking viewpoint of science has increased the attention given to the topics of discovery and problem-solving behavior. Authors conclude that research by philosophers of science on models and problem solving include insights to…

Distinguishes between problems" and exercises" in science teaching, and disscusses the use and abuse of problem-solving in physics instruction. Suggests that the essence of problem-solving is the element of creativity and challenge. The implications of this idea for science teaching is discussed. Bibliography. (LC)

Science educators are encouraged to adopt teaching techniques to help children learn to solve problems through inquiry or discovery. Included are several sample problems and method for finding other appropriate science related problems. (SL)

Discusses inquiry and discovery methods in elementary school science education; emphasizes the importance of teachers knowing whether they are using the inquiry approach and to what extent. Presents a chart listing the steps involved in problem solving, indicating whether a step is teacher- or student-controlled. (BC)

Activities used with seventh and eighth grade students in Western Australia are described. The instructor guides pupils towards experimental solutions and encourages discovery of solutions for similar and more general problems. Investigations include study and construction of polygons, polyhedra, and one and two-sided surfaces. Commercial kits are…

Some uses of fruits and seeds to facilitate problem solving and cognitive processes in young children are suggested. (MR)

Describes a laboratory course, modeled on the approach developed by Robert Karplus for physics laboratory courses, emphasizing discovery learning. (SK)